I want to go there and I want to eat that

Mimosas, Football and the South

Today is chock full of giving thanks and while I consider myself a pretty grateful person most days, I can’t help but be sucked into the thankful spirit tenfold today. I was a little worried initially about how today would go as I wasn’t going to be home with my family. For those who know me well or know how incredible my family is, they might understand how tremendously difficult it is for me to be away from them during the holidays.
I simply adore Thanksgiving with my family: waking up, watching the Macy’s Day Parade, cooking, inevitably ruining one pie because I didn’t read the recipe well enough and then making another because I refuse to be defeated, getting gussied up, setting up our dining room table that is stored in the basement and only brought up to the living room on Thanksgiving because we don’t have a large enough kitchen for it or a formal dining room, all sitting around the table as a family together sharing our thankfuls, laughing, cheersing, trying to get the best loaded bite complete with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and some biscuit, napping with the girls while the boys watch football, then waking back up and eating more food and more pie.
Today, however, I was spending Thanksgiving with a different sort of family. I live with my boyfriend, Ryan and he is not only the man I intend to marry, but my best friend and my love, so while he is not the family that made me, he feels like home to me.
He set the alarm this morning for 7:30 a.m. because he has a different set of traditions than I do. He gets up and plays football with his childhood friends who still get together in the neighborhood he grew up in. They play football every year. I got up with him, showered and I was brushing my teeth, he warned me that it would be 28 degrees out and I didn’t have to come watch football if it was too cold for me. I laughed. Too cold? I’m from Michigan. There is no such thing as too cold unless there’s a news warning telling you to stay indoors because if you stay outside for more than 10 minutes you’ll get frost bite and your nose will fall off. That’s too cold and trust me, it’s chillier than 28 degrees.
I bundled up: faux fur hooded jacket on top of furry hat, scarf, mittens and wool socks. I met Ryan’s friends and their family—The Klinkers. A scrumptious breakfast display of homemade chocolate chip waffles, sausage rice casserole, scrambled eggs, bacon, mimosas and hot coffee was served before the big game. It never occurred to me to have that kind of breakfast on Thanksgiving before. I was too busy starving myself so I could gorge guilt-free on pie later in the day.
I watched the guys (and a few brave girls) play football, with their specially made for the day blue and maroon jerseys. I cheered and felt immense pride for my sports-loving boyfriend who intercepted the ball and ran across the field (elementary school playground) for a touchdown.
When the game was over Ryan was sweaty and muddy; I was beaming and grateful. Grateful to be there. Grateful that I watched a football game without wanting to gouge my eyes out. Grateful for mimosas and chocolate chip waffles on a day I’d reserved for chocolate pie and turkey. Grateful to be a part of this family’s traditions. Grateful to see the family patriarch pour a splash of Jameson in his coffee (this delighted me for some reason). Grateful that my boyfriend may have been serious about winning the game but wasn’t too serious to blow me kisses while playing. Grateful that the Klinkers hugged me and high-fived me like family.
Little did I know when I woke up this morning that my day could go the way it went; I was hopeful for a lovely day, but I honestly felt Thanksgiving had some pretty large shoes to fill and it would be next to impossible to do. I was wrong. This Thanksgiving did more than alright even if hundreds of miles separated me from the dining room table carried up to the living room and my nine siblings surrounding me. I could go on about the many splendid events that followed the morning football game, but I am going to avoid being verbose for once. Or try. And leave you with a small list instead.

Besides my huge thanks to the Klinkers I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my other major gratefuls:
—FaceTime
—Christmas trees all lit up in windows and on hills
—Families near and far
—Mr. DeHaven’s cookies
—Babies that crawl
—Lions that devour cheese
—Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters
—Wegman’s
—Boys with beards who play football and look damn good doing it

—And this quote I heard on Modern Family:

“There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You’d think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists but more often than not the opposite is true. You see the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists, well, without the dreamers they might not ever get off the ground.”

Which reminded me a little bit of my boyfriend and I. And that in turn made me grateful that I am dating someone who is just enough different in personality, family and traditions to introduce me to a life that I have never known, but that is beautiful, grand, spontaneous and splendid, even if he is a sporty Southerner who likes to plan. He is the yin to my yang and the peanut butter to my chocolate.

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That’s Me

"Have you fantasized about this moment as much as I have?" That's what I am going to say when I finally introduce myself to the Parisian croissant. Also if I don't ride the Trans-Siberian Railway soon, what's my life all about?
I like food, I like travel more. Or maybe vice versa. I can never decide.